Is this the war of the flea?

THE upcoming Swapo Congress, slated for No­vember, will be a watershed moment for both the ruling party and the country.
The run-up to the congress has seen an unprece­dented bitter and dirty war, being fought inside Swa­po structures, as the party elect candidates that will choose the top leadership, including positioning the candidate who will take over from President Hage Geingob, when he relinquishes the reins of the coun­try, following his second term.
Analysts and others who have been observing the political thuggery and other underhand tactics being employed, may well liken what is happening to a shebeen fight, where stabbings happened indis­criminately.
But soon these tactics of disinformation, fake news, vote-buying, outright lies and the flagrant abuse of the party’s constitution will come to light, with evidence.
Already, the ruling party has dispatched teams to the regions to investigate instances where the party constitution was violated and trampled upon during district and regional conferences.
The persistent reports of cash being carried around in suit cases, to buy delegates, must also be taken very seriously.
What we are seeing in Swapo at this critical junc­ture in history is what has been well-recorded in oth­er liberation movements turned governments, where access to State looting is facilitated through the cap­turing of the party. In South Africa, for example, the ruling ANC party has been split into two, principally along the lines of those who are beholden to a par­ticularly State looting faction, and those who are lit­erally being bullied and battered into submission, as they preach party renewal and an end to corruption.
The forces that have aligned in Namibia appear to be no different, and are widely seen as a small minori­ty, who have been benefited from State tenders over many years. It is ironic that it is exactly this ill-gotten cash windfall that is being shoved in the faces of del­egates and potential delegates to the upcoming Swa­po Congress. On other levels, their tactics have been even more troubling, if one can even believe that.
They have tried to split the country along tribal lines, while pushing populist rhetoric around, for example, land. They have literally used the poor and desperate. This is classic guerrilla tactics, as espoused in the widely known book titled, War of the Flea.
It is quite simple really; and the tactics revolve around the fact that military enemy, or in the case of the current political context, a sitting leader, suffers the dog’s disadvantages, when attacked by a flea.
This is because an incumbent has too much to de­fend, while the flea is small, ubiquitous and agile, and is difficult for an enemy to come to grips with.
War of the Flea’s timeless analysis the means and methods used to keep the dog busy, while the flea opens up ever-creasing lines of attack, provides a fundamental resource to understand this distinct form of warfare. If one is honest, you are able to un­derstand the complexities of what has been happen­ing, even on social media and other platforms, when the current government is attacked and vilified, in­cluding the Head of State. Of grave concern, is what actually happens if the fleas win. In nature, they are bloodsucking parasites, who add no value to their host.
They would, in fact, drain a host dry if they could multiply in sufficient numbers.In the Namibian con­text, we can ill-afford State coffers to be pilfered and sucked dry any longer.
We need a leadership in this country, which is not beholden to narrow capitalistic interests, at the ex­pense of the poor.
This war of the flea, in the context of the Swapo Congress, should not be allowed to succeed!